Asda seeks to lure wine lovers with Christmas ad

Asda has made wine a major focus of its Christmas advertising drive by telling shoppers that “wine lovers are better off at Asda”.

A number of leading retailers, from John Lewis to Marks & Spencer, kicked off their Christmas TV campaigns this week.

While rival Tesco opted for portraying a family’s video camera memories of Christmas over six decades accompanied by Rod Stewart singing, Asda aggressively targeted rivals with the direct message: “You’re better off at Asda.”

It has two TV ads, one of which shows four snowmen representing the multiple retailers, with the Asda snowman big and smiling and the other three small, miserable and threadbare, and the message: “This Christmas, think of supermarket savings as these snowmen here. Some supermarkets promise to match each other on price, but at Asda we don’t just match them – we beat them.”

The other ad, which made its debut in the ad break between The X Factor, is completely focused on wine.

A family party scene features guests drinking wine, while the narrator says: “This Christmas every supermarket’s got wine, but at Asda we’ve won over 200 awards for ours. So for those with a clever nose, Asda’s the place to go.

“Take this full-bodied Extra Special Barbera wine, aged to perfection, a little bit like granddad here.”

At this point the scene cuts to an elderly gentleman in a paper Christmas hat cutting shapes as if he were on a nightclub dance floor at 3am rather than a family party.

The narrator then adds “and these five exclusive wines are now only £5 each” as the Barbera is joined in a group shot by a Cotes du Rhone, Pinot Grigio, Viognier and Primitivo.

“So for our range of award-winning bottles this Christmas, wine lovers are better off at Asda,” concludes the narrator.

Chief marketing officer Steve Smith said: “Our customers are the driving force behind this campaign and we know more than ever they need us to hold down the cost of Christmas and help make their lives easier.

“We’re different to the rest, we take our customers and our business seriously, but we’re keeping it simple, fun and lighthearted. We think it’s more important to invest money directly into lowering the prices of all our products instead of producing costly campaigns that just keep the ad guys happy.

“Our adverts won’t be celebrity filled features, they will shine a spotlight on the stories behind our great quality, award winning products and the unbelievable value for money of our whole range of gifts, food and drink – the real stars of our show.”

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